GOP candidate and businessman Herman Cain met with Muslim leaders at one of the nation’s largest mosques on Wednesday, a quiet but deliberate effort to defray accusations of bigotry aimed at the Cain campaign for Islam-related comments he’s made on the trail, Politico’s Juana Summers reports:

Cain’s campaign announced plans to convene the outreach meeting this week, but refused to provide details even after the meeting, which was held at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center in Sterling, Va. …

“I would be flabbergasted if he ever repeated those statements and said that communities should be allowed to ban mosques,” (ADAMS board member Robert Marro) said. “I think that the meeting today has changed his mind 100 percent. From the tenor of the conversation, I can’t see him repeating such things.”

In addition to saying communities should be able to ban mosques, Cain also caught fire for saying he would not feel comfortable having a Muslim in his presidential cabinet. Despite Marro’s high reviews of the meeting, Cain apologized for causing offense to “Muslim Americans and their friends,” but did not disown his previous remarks.